Pyroneus Dawnlight: The Gatekeeper of Worlds
by Pyroneus Dawnlight
Summary: An Inter-Dimensional Being takes a step outside his long life of seclusion, and learns there is more to the world than he had first thought.
1. Introduction

**Introduction**

Once upon a time, in a magical land…..…

Yeah, I _wish_ this could start off like that. I _wish_ that this was a happy tale, one free of all the horrors and terrors that streak through my existence. Sadly, that is not so, because being me will always have its sacrifices, one of which happens to be dealing with the dangers of the multiverse. Confused? Perhaps to tell you my tale, I should start by explaining who I am. I am what many would refer to as a god. And that could not be _farther_ from the truth. I AM _NOT_ A GOD. I am a selfish, _arrogant_ creature, content to just sit back and watch things settle themselves. There are things I have done in the past that should never again see the light of day. I've killed others, made their children watch as I strangled the life from their eyes. I've burned entire worlds, just to save myself the trouble of hunting down a criminal. The terrors I have wrought across the eons are unspeakable, unheard of, and downright outrageou- Hmm, sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. You'll hear this part of my tale later on. Right now, I should just start from the beginning. My name is Pyroneus Dawnlight. This is my story….


	2. Prologue: In the Very Beginning

**Prologue**

_In the Very Beginning_

Have you ever wondered if you were alone in the universe? Or for that matter, if there is only _this_ universe? There are many theories as to what is what, and how the universe works. I'll answer those queries now. There are two existing universes, each one have different properties. For example, the universe that you live in is what I will refer to as the 'Realm of Creation'. I call it such because it both directly and indirectly affects the other, which I will refer to as the 'Realm of Dreams'. What do I mean by this? The Realm of Creation is where all of the logical and sensible things (at least in _your_ minds) exist, such as a sense of gravity. In a way, I guess you could also call it the 'Realm of Limits'. All normal life goes on in this realm, dreams are just dreams, and reality is based solely on cause and effect. But, as I'm sure many have wished, what if those dreams you had could come true? That is where the Realm of Dreams comes in. Anything that has ever been imagined, from imaginary friends to storybook characters and fantasy worlds, has come to exist there, for a brief time. I say brief because nothing exists there for very long, and as long as no one keeps on thinking about something, it ceases to exist. Now, I bet you're thinking "That's an awfully powerful place, how come it's never been found, or how come the things that appear there don't come to conquer the Realm of Creation?" That is a good question, and it's also where I come in. I've neglected to mention that each universe has its own…..consciousness, if you will. They communicate silently, coordinating the events, keeping things calm. But, as you can imagine, there are those who would attempt to destroy the balance, to take over all of existence. Unfortunately, these two great minds are unable to directly intervene, leaving the multiverse open to _any_ threat.

Before we continue, I must also explain to you that, whilst there _are_ two universes, travel between them is (almost) impossible. This ensures that they cannot interact, which would lead to, simply put, the end of all things. A dimension, a gateway of sorts, lies between them. I am the sole inhabitant of that realm, the gatekeeper of existence. I have lived since before the dawn of time, keeping the fledgling universes from colliding, and ensuring a peaceful growth. I am endowed with _many_ abilities, all suited to dealing with threats. For example, one of the most prominent is my complete command over fire, and the ability to create it without the need for fuel or oxygen. I can view anything and everything that goes on in the multiverse, as long as I stay in my world. As for my appearance, I am a very tall, heavy footed pony, although I can be completely silent if I wish. My skin is impenetrable, and of a similar texture to what you know as a dragon, with a very rough fur coat. For the most part, my skin is deep obsidian purple, with great, bat-like wings, the webs of which are a dark blue, and fins for flight control running from the front of my head, down the back of my neck. The end of my tail, split into three spiky points, emits a jet of bright fire from the center. It has no hair on it, merely an extension of my coat's fur. My eyes are a dark, glowing crimson, of a hue similar to blood. I have thick hooves, specifically shaped for breaking whatever I kick, and razor sharp teeth that could quite literally rip diamonds to shreds. All of these things make me, as one can imagine, a terrifying sight to the faint of heart.

Now, with all that power, you'd _think_ I would be traveling all over the multiverse, keeping order. Well, you're wrong. Before, I was content to sit on a throne all day, doing as I pleased. I didn't deal with trouble that wasn't aimed at me. I wasn't merely cruel, I was heartless. You see, even though I cannot be _directly_ killed, destroying my dimension would effectively destroy _me._ I reached a point where all I was concerned about was my own life. I was heartless, because it kept me from caring. I was alone, because I didn't want friends. Friends can turn on you, they stab you in the back when you least expect it. I had convinced myself that no being could be trusted, so I sealed myself away, shunning the entire universe. All of these 'revelations' occurred fairly early on, and it was millennia before I would reveal myself again. When I finally did, the world was different. _Very_ different.


	3. Chapter 1: The Adventure of the Age

**Chapter One**

_The Adventure of the Age_

Another day. Another _boring_ day in my life. Nothing ever happens in this damn place. The days go by like snails on flypaper. "_Something_ needs to happen, or I may just have to go and find some trouble _myself_." Dangerous thinking, but that's what I had told myself on that day, the day when my whole world shifted. After that day, I was never the same again. I'm not entirely sure if it was a good or a bad thing.

It was like any other day, just me, alone in my 'castle'. Being the ruler of an entire dimension is wonderful because you don't have rules or obligations, but it gets so incredibly _boring_. At least I had the power to do as I pleased, as long as I was _IN_ my dimension. But being alone always has its downs, and eventually you'll find yourself wanting adventure, especially if you're like me. I had started my day doing what else, working on a project. I was forging a suit of armor, of my own design obviously (because I have a certain liking to what was known as smithing, and I consider myself a master of the art), and a thought struck me. No matter what I came up with, no matter how much I hated the thought, simply smithing all day every day would just get old, and that was a moment I _never_ want to face. I decided I would go out and search for some trouble to solve, _anything_ to escape that thought. Little did I realise I was about to enter the most dangerous, and certainly the _longest_ adventure I would ever know. It was also the single greatest experience of my existence.

After a brief cleaning of my workshop (tidiness, while not always necessary, is a good habit to keep for your workplace), I set out, pausing only to open a passage to a spot near my destination. I dropped myself not far from a small blue and green planet, a fairly backwater world, unlike some other galaxies in this universe. I use the term backwater because there are worlds that are so advanced, they exist entirely on thought. This one at least had enough advances that they were very civilized (or at least, as civilized as any world where wars existed could get), but they had not yet delved into space travel, therefore they had yet to be explored, or do any exploring themselves.

"Ugh, this is utterly pointless," I said to myself as I flew near the planet, deemed 'Earth' by its inhabitants. "I'll solve this in a less than an hour and be on my way back before I've had any fun." I was heading to the planet's satellite (their 'Moon') to deal with an infestation of 'Diggers' (my name for a species of creatures that like to eat asteroids by digging to the center and devouring it from the inside out. Thankfully, they aren't very fast; otherwise a group this large could have destroyed the satellite in mere seconds).

As I flew within about 300 metres of the surface, I saw the opening where the Diggers had gone in. I adjusted my flight pattern and fired a few bolts of magical fire into the pit. It seems in my boredom I had forgotten Diggers were carnivorous, because a mere ten seconds after the first bolt hit, one of the damn things lunged out at me. "WHOA!" I yelled as I narrowly avoided being hit. These were not your average Diggers, these had sharp talon-covered arms, something I didn't think they were capable of having.

"Yes! This may be more interesting than I thought!" I was actually excited for once. A quick dive roll threw me away from the creature's next swing, but the follow-up punch nicked my tail. Guess he didn't realise that striking something that spews white-hot flame is _not_ something one should target. It bellowed in pain, reeling back towards the opening it had dug in an attempt to surprise me. "_OH_ NO. I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU YET!" I dived after it, encasing myself in fire should one decide to try and grab me. It also helps as a light source, since we were close to the darker part of the 'moon'. The whole satellite was in its beginning phases, I could tell because even though it was dark where I was, I could see Earth from the surface of the so called Moon. Within a minute I had traversed the mile or so to the bottom, where they were still digging.

At my approach, several looked (up?) at me, evil green eyes glaring at me in the dark. One howled, alerting the rest to my presence and sending ALL of them at me. A fair amount, fifteen or so, and considering they were each _six_ times my size, that's a lot of mass heading towards you. Naturally, I ducked away, prepping a large whirl of fire to hurl at the oncoming horde. When I had finally charged it, I threw the giant fireball and dove into the blast (may as well enjoy the heat). What an enormous miscalculation.

While most had died right away, the sheer number of them had saved the back few from incineration. Many of these had lost their wings and were bleeding to death. I let the fires have them. The last three had only minor injuries, lucky them. I flew up, out of the pit and stopped the fire I had cast around myself, so they were unable to see me. I listened closely, waiting till I could hear them near me, and lit the fire again. Both of them charged right at me, the 'Earth' behind them. "Hmph, too easy." In a flash of bright red, they were nothing more than ash. I smirked; nothing could be more stupi- wait, _both _of them?Weren't there three_-_

**_CRACK! _**With the forceof a high speed meteor, the last one struck me in my spine, hurling me forward towards the planet ahead and knocking me unconscious in the process. In the last few moments I was awake, I took a bit of detail on my attacker: The very _first_ Digger I had fought. It turned, thinking I was dead, and flew away, probably back to its home. I could swear it was laughing. Meanwhile, I crept closer to Earth…. and drifted to sleep.


End file.
